Well, Technically They're Not People So It's Okay
by fringe31422
Summary: Peter during Reciprocity 3.11 When he first enters the room with the machine, he immediately knows something is wrong.


_Well, Technically They're Not People So It's Okay_

Summary: Peter in Reprocity 3.11

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

These days, he's angry at everyone. Angry at himself for not realizing he'd brought Fauxlivia home with him, angry at Olivia for giving him the cold shoulder, at Walter for not being his real father, and at the Fringe Division for solving murders instead of preventing them. Every time a dead body rolls into the lab, he clenches a fist, bites his tongue and thinks about how he's so tired of being Randy Moss when they could save so many more people if they just did a Tom Brady.

When he first enters the room with the machine, he immediately knows something is wrong. But he plays it cool and nobody notices the nauseous look on his face because they're all staring at the machine anyway. He stares with the rest of them, and he wonders if they all see what he sees: himself, draped in the middle, powering the device that will save or destroy the two universes.

Then, suddenly, people start shouting, computer screens flicker, and he feels like his heart must be made out of iron with the way he's drawn, almost forcefully, to the magnetized behemoth. A burst of pain flashes behind his eyes and he looks down to find his fingers stained red. The blood feels warm and sticky on his skin.

Something inside him snaps and the anger burns him from the inside out. The feeling is new and frightening and somehow, everything becomes so much clearer. Now he knows exactly what he has to do.

The first one is the hardest, naturally. He can't be sure if he's really cracked her code, if the fact that Newton's name is the fifteenth in the list on the fifteenth page isn't just a coincidence. But silver blood leaks from the hole in Baird's forehead, and the knife hits metal at the base of the shifter's spine. He doesn't stop to think about the consequences; how can he? Not when he's got to get home before Walter notices and the body is just so goddamn heavy and he keeps stumbling because the homeless man across the street may or may not be awake.

It throws him for a moment because Baird still looks so human, feels like it, too, but he remembers the radio guy, Newton, and the Charlie who wasn't and his eyes remain cold and dry.

He can't help it. Can't help glaring at Falcon as the guy tries to be reassuring. How dare Falcon infiltrate his father's company by killing one of the most gifted scientists in the world and perform tests that he obviously has no intention of using for a noble purpose! As Falcon pushes him into the MRI, he can feel his heart racing and the fury doesn't let go until the test is over.

He also can't help placing a warm hand on the doctor's back in thanks. He'll find time to laugh about the irony later.

He skips the fourth shifter and moves on to the fifth. By now, Olivia will have probably broken the code, even though he and many others have told her to stay away from the file, but since when has Olivia Dunham ever followed orders? Normally, he'd love that, let a smile grow on his face, except now, it only seems like a nuisance.

"This isn't you," Walter tells him and for the first time in the past two days, he allows himself to slow down and consider it. The anger fades after a while. It leaves an empty space inside, remaining hauntingly cold until Nina calls again for more tests. She takes him back to the machine, alone this time, and the parts shift and transform, to make a space for him in the middle. He imagines he can see the future, see the way it will look in two or three year's time, with him hanging there in the center. Nina hands him a tissue as the blood starts leaking from his nose.

The feeling comes back, the one with the sharp edges and the scorching heat. He likes it.

**A/N: You should totally review! Even if you have nothing good to say, I would love it. BTW in case you don't get the football reference, Tom Brady is the quarterback so he throws the ball and Randy Moss is/was the receiver so he catches it.**


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